The Super Villain and the Moon
by StoryBirdLlamaofJune
Summary: In the aftermath of Penny's death Billy is having trouble coping. Luna, a homeless girl, is having the same problem. The two meet one night and start talking about the woman they both loved in different ways. Together the start working through their grief. Things go smoothly until mysterious strangers start following Luna around.
1. The Meeting

Luna was just throwing another handful of newspaper into the trashcan fire when she saw him. A shadowy figure approached slowly. That in and of itself wasn't very strange. The spot was popular with the local homeless population and Luna was surprised that she had been the only one there for as long as it had been. What was strange was that he showed no interest in joining her. He just stood there in the dark shadow behind the street lamp. Staring. Luna followed his gaze to the building she herself had been watching that night.

It was closed up tight. There was talk of opening it up again "when things calmed down" but Luna doubted it. There simply wasn't much force behind the whole "help the homeless" movement since Penny's death.

Luna's breathing hitched and she blinked away a stray tear. She reminded herself for the hundredth time that they hadn't really been all that close and Penny was just being nice to her like she was to everybody but it still hurt to loose the only person Luna trusted in a long time.  
A cold breeze rushed passed and Luna hugged her thin sweater closer to her body and huddled closer to the fire. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man do the same with his coat and she took pity.

"You know you're welcome to join me if you want. The fire's free."

The figure jerked and quickly turned to face her. Luna had the feeling he hadn't known she was there. She wasn't surprised. Now that she had a better look at him she could tell he probably wasn't homeless like her. His clothes were too clean and he looked slightly out of place, not that he stuck out necessarily, but he was a bit off. People who weren't homeless tended to ignore her kind, if not purposefully then they simply didn't notice.

She tried again, "Come on. It's cold. And you might as well be warm."

He stared at her for a few seconds before muttering under his breath, "I don't deserve to be warm."

Luna was pretty sure he hadn't meant for her to hear that but she had sharp ears, "It's been my experience that what happens to people doesn't really have much to do with whether or not they deserve it."

She said that a bit more bitterly then she meant to but her words seemed to reach him because he did walk over. In the flickering light of the fire Luna got her first good look at him. He wasn't altogether that impressive. He was maybe average in height and build and he wore a dark colored light jacket and some jeans. He had short blond hair and he was hunched over like he was trying to hide from the world. In fact, he looked miserable. His face was practically expressionless but Luna could see pain just below the surface. He turned his attention back the dark structure.

"What do you see?" Luna asked. She normally wouldn't have gotten involved but he looked so lost.

"An empty building." The hardness and bitterness in his voice somehow made him seem even more alone.

"Rrrrriiiiiight." Luna raised an eyebrow when he glanced at her. There was no way that's what he was looking at.

He looked back at the window, "I see the most beautiful woman in the world." His voice was so soft it was barely above a whisper, "She's smiling, at everyone. She has the most amazing smile. Everything around her is a little brighter just because she's there. And she has the most beautiful red hair on the face of the earth."

Luna twitched, "Are you talking about Penny?"

He started violently, whirling around to face her so fast she worried he might fall over, "You knew Penny?" The shocked expression on his face would have been comical under different circumstances.

Luna nodded, enthusiastically despite the tears she was only just keeping in check. "Yea. I mean, we weren't best friends or anything. But we talked. She was the only one who could remember my name."

Luna blushed and looked away. She hadn't meant to admit that last part. Living on the streets made her wary of admitting weaknesses, especially to complete strangers.

"You did better than me then."

Luna glanced up. He was looking at her with this faint, almost smile on his face, lost in a better memory.

"I only worked up the courage to talk to her a week or so before she died. And that was only because she talked to me first."

Luna nodded. She didn't trust herself to talk without bursting into tears.

"It's weird," He was staring into the fire, "I wonder if she'd never come up and asked me to sign that stupid petition would she still be alive?"

Luna had to close her eyes tightly against the wave of grief that threatened to overtake her. She reached down and picked up a rickety old broken wooden crate.

"It's not fair!"

She brought the crate smashing down into the trashcan. It shattered satisfyingly but it also sent sparks flying so violently that Luna had to jump back, hastily brushing a burning ember off her hand. The man also jumped back, but he didn't seem upset at her outburst. Luna was too mad to care about him anyway.

"Why did she have to die?! Penny never hurt anybody and those two idiots had no right to include her in their feud! I'm not even sure who to blame! They say it was a freak accident. A million to one chance. Why did it have to happen? Why couldn't things have gone just a little bit differently?"

Luna looked at her companion helplessly. She had no answers.

"I don't know."

He lifted his hands to his face and covered his eyes. His shoulders started shaking.

"I don't know."

He was crying. He dropped to his knees beside the still burning trashcan and sobbed quietly into his hands. Luna didn't really care though, because she was crying too. She curled up on her own side of the fire and lost herself in her tears.

Luna hadn't prayed in a long time but later she thanked God that no one passed by during that. She let all her despair and anger and frustration and hopelessness out on the ground next to a burning trashcan and a not quite still stranger. She didn't know how long it lasted, a few minutes or a few hours. It seemed to go on forever.

They both came out of it at roughly the same time though. Luna sniffed and rubbed her eyes mostly dry on her sleeve. She looked over to where the man was sitting with his back to the fence. He seemed, not happy, but better. He glanced over at her, "Thanks."

Luna cocked her head, wondering what he was talking about.

"That was the first time I was really able to cry about it."

Luna giggled. She didn't really find their situation funny but her emotions were so spent she had to laugh at something.

"Me too."

They sat in companionable silence for several minutes. Luna picked up a piece of cardboard and started tearing it into pieces.

"You're right."

"What?" Luna looked over at him, curious as to what he was talking about.

"Doctor Horrible and Captain Hammer should have never let her get involved in their fight. They should have left her out of it."

"Doesn't matter now does it?" Luna spat bitterly. She threw the piece of cardboard she'd just torn off as hard as she could. Unfortunately, because it was cardboard, all it did was flip three times in the air and skid to a stop on the ground in a very unsatisfactory manner. Luna glared at it, wishing it would explode. "She's dead and those two have probably already forgotten all about her. The papers sure have."

The man was shaking his head, "No. No I could never forget Penny. She died in my arms."

Luna's emotions might have been messed up but her instincts, the same instincts that had kept her alive for the past three years, were in perfect working order. She was on her feet and backing away in two seconds flat. She didn't know everything but she knew who had been closest to Penny when she died.

"You're him!"

She didn't trust herself to say the name. Super villains were dangerous and unpredictable and Luna wasn't sure what would set this particular one off.

He looked over at her, a strange coldness and almost amusement seemed to overtake his previously vulnerable face. "You going to run now?"  
Luna hesitated. She was, her foot was already out behind her and she was about to turn but something stopped her. Maybe it was his casual tone of voice or the fact that he had been crying five minutes ago or all the questions she'd wished she could ask the very person in front of her.

"Should I?"

Luna couldn't think of a better way to ask if he was going to hurt her.

Doctor Horrible shrugged and turned his attention back to the empty building, "Honestly I don't care one way or the other."

Knowing she was probably doing something stupid, Luna walked over and sat down, leaning against the fence a few feet away. She glanced sideways at him nervously. He seemed calm enough. She tried to imagine goggles on his forehead and a red coat. It worked disturbingly well. It was nerve racking, sitting next to the most notorious villain in the area, but he hadn't given any indication that he wanted to cause trouble. He was just sitting there, lost in thought, practically ignoring her.

Luna's thoughts turned to Penny. She remembered how Penny would make sure there was enough for everyone to eat, even if she had to go to the grocery store herself. She remembered how Penny would always have a smile for her, even when she wasn't having a good day. She remembered the time Penny had stayed at the shelter for hours to look after a sick boy so his mother could go to work. The more she remembered, the angrier she became.

"I hated you."

It was without a doubt the stupidest thing she had ever said but Luna didn't care at the moment. She felt like she owed Penny, although she didn't know how saying that would help.

Doctor Horrible snorted, "Past tense? You don't still hate me?"

Luna sighed, "I don't know."

The silence stretched out until it became uncomfortable. Luna was trying to figure out why she stayed. She didn't really have a plan or a goal for the night but there was still something that was keeping her there.

"Tell me what happened."

Luna almost jumped at her own voice. She hadn't meant to say that out loud but now that she did she realized she wanted to know. She really wanted to know.

Doctor Horrible was already shaking his head.

A flash of anger made Luna stupidly brave, "I mean it!" She shifted her body so she was facing him, digging her nails into the soft fabric over her knees, "I know it's complicated and I know the mechanics of the whole hero/villain thing is way over my head but Penny was my friend!" Luna's voice cracked, "My only friend. You owe me that much."

The super villain looked at her. Luna was too far into it to care by that point. If he killed her, well, there was no one that would miss the skinny street kid.

He nodded, "Okay."

Luna tried not to show her surprise.

Doctor Horrible turned his attention inward again and stared into space, "I got there early. It wasn't that hard to get rid of the statue. I needed a spot with a clear shot of Captain Hammer, I was going after him by the way,"

He turned to her and his expression was so forlorn that Luna had to believe him, she nodded.

"Anyway my freeze ray needed some time to warm up before I could shoot it so posing as the statue was the only option really."

Luna was interested despite herself. The papers didn't mention details like this.

"I waited until he was almost done with his speech. You have to get the timing right in these things you know. He was being an idiot, as usual. He even bragged about how he and Penny had had sex."

The doctor's face twisted in rage and Luna remembered how he'd first described Penny. Something clicked inside her.

"I don't know how she took that. I couldn't really see through the fabric. I'm assuming not well though. When I pushed aside the fabric and shot him I didn't see her on stage anyway. The freeze ray worked perfectly. I knew it would. All I had to do was shoot him with my death ray. That's all I had to do." He sighed once again and looked at the stars, "I'm not in this for the killing. I don't like it and I wasn't ready so I stalled. I didn't see Penny. I had thought, hoped she'd run away like the majority of the people. When I couldn't stall anymore I was getting ready to shoot but I still," He jerked his hands in the air and let them fall uselessly to the ground, "Anyway the freeze ray chose that moment to run out of juice. Captain Hammer punched me across the room. The death ray, of course, smashed against the floor. Before I could really react he'd picked it up and was standing over me with it in his hand, pinning me down with his foot."

Luna held her hands up, "Wait a minute hold on back it up." She knew she was interrupting but something didn't make sense, "The villain has to psych himself up to kill his most hated enemy but the hero has no qualms about waving a dangerous weapon in someone's face?"

Doctor Horrible snorted, "He had no qualms about pulling the trigger."

Luna stared, "You know what? The world's messed up."

He laughed. He laughed so loudly and so suddenly that Luna jumped. "I make that observation every day."

Luna looked away for the first time. So this was how a super villain thinks. She was a little disturbed to realize she felt similar.

"I could see." his voice had gone softer now, "I could see the error light flashing on the side of the death ray. I knew what would happen if he tried to use it. I tried to warn him. He wouldn't listen to me. I should have tried harder." He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, "When he pulled the trigger there was a huge explosion. At first I was just glad I was still alive and Captain Hammer was out of commission. I think that's the first time in his life he felt pain. Then I saw her. The shrapnel."

He looked at her. As if she could somehow make it not so. She couldn't.

"She was dying and there was nothing I could do."

They were silent for a few minutes as Luna tried to process what he'd told her. Now that she'd heard the story she wasn't sure how to feel. She'd thought she'd known who to blame for this. Who it was safe to hate. Who everyone was telling her to hate. But now that she'd heard the story (and she did believe him) she realized that it was complicated.

"You loved her. Didn't you." Luna wondered when she'd stopped being afraid of the man.

"Yes." Even in a whisper he sounded the most sure of himself in that one word then all the rest of the conversation.

Luna sighed and slumped against the fence.

"Feel better?" Doctor Horrible asked with a hint of bitterness to his voice, although Luna got the impression he did want to know.

Luna shook her head, "Not really," she looked over at him, "but thanks for telling me anyways."

He nodded and they lapsed into silence again. There was something that was still bothering Luna but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Suddenly she realized, "Why go after Captain Hammer in the first place?"

"What?"

"Well, I mean, if you don't like killing then why were you planning to do it?"

The blond sighed again, "It was the price of admission."

Luna was confused, "Admission to what?"

"The Evil League of Evil."

"Oh." Luna began to feel nervous again. She only knew a few things about the league but she did know they were bad news.

"H-how did you two meet anyway?" Luna figured keeping the conversation as far away from Doctor Horrible's "job" as possible was a good idea.

"We went to the same laundry mat."

Luna couldn't help giggling, "Seriously? Super villains do laundry?"

He smiled, Luna was surprised to find he had a nice smile, "I have clothes don't I?" He tugged at his own jacket to illustrate the point, "Well clothes occasionally get dirty don't they? Since, until recently, I didn't exactly have the funds for a washer and dryer I had to use other means."

Luna nodded but she was still grinning, "I suppose that makes sense but I still find it weird. It's just too normal."

"That's our saving grace. If normal people realized how often they probably encounter superheroes and super villains every day while they're in civilian mode they'd probably be astonished. And look harder. But because they don't expect us, they don't see us."

Luna thought about it and was struck by how similar her own life was. People passed her by every day without a second glance. Nobody noticed the street kids at the edge of their vision. Sometimes it was heartbreaking, being looked over like that, but other times it was a life saver. Luna had lost count of the number of times being unnoticed had saved her from trouble.

"So, I was wondering," Doctor Horrible seemed a bit unsure, "you said Penny talked to you?"

Luna nodded, "Yea, every week or so we'd meet and catch up on each others lives. It was actually really fun because it gave both of us a chance to blow off steam. I would complain about something and than she would complain about something and then we'd both laugh."  
"Really? I don't think I've ever heard Penny complain about anything."

Luna smiled, "I'm not surprised, she was a very positive person. But everybody's had bad days you know."

Doctor Horrible gave a short laugh and nodded.

"It kinda came out of our first conversation. I'm not really an open person and didn't want to talk to her but she promised me that she would listen without judging or looking down on me if I would do the same for her."

"Sounds like a good system."

"It was." Luna fell silent as she mourned the loss of yet another part of her life that died with Penny.

"Hey, do you think you could do me a favor?"

Luna blinked in surprise. _A super villain is asking me for a favor?_ "Um, what is it?"

"Well, you had more time to get to know Penny then I did. Do you think you can tell me what you found out?"

"You mean like what she talked about or what she liked to do or..."

"Everything. Anything."

Luna considered it. Would it be betraying Penny's trust to tell him? He'd obviously cared for her and it was a little heartbreaking how he never had the time to get to know her properly while she was alive but she still wasn't sure. "Why do you need to know?"

"Why did you need to know how she died?"

That stopped her. She couldn't exactly put into words why knowing was so important to her but it was and it made sense that he felt similar.  
Luna settled back more comfortably against the fence, "Okay. Well, I guess I could start with when we first met."

Suddenly a ringtone interrupted them from Doctor Horrible's pants pocket. He quickly fished a cell phone out and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

He listened for a few seconds before leaping to his feet.

"What!?"

Luna jumped up too.

"How long has it been doing that?" He listened for a few seconds, "Okay did you put out the fire?"

Luna blinked, _fire?_

"Right. Wait! Are the orange lights blinking or the red ones?"

_What lights?_

"Okay okay, this is what I want you to do. Go get the liquid nitrogen and pour it over it. _Don't forget to wear the gloves!_ That should slow it down long enough for me to get there but keep the fire extinguisher handy just in case. I'll be right over."

He flipped the phone closed and turned to Luna, "Something's come up. There was an accident in the lab and I've got to go."

Luna nodded, "Okay."

He walked a few steps away but then hesitated, turning to her, "If you wanted. Maybe we could meet here tomorrow night and you could finish your story."

Luna smiled and nodded, "Sure."

He gave a curt not and then he was racing down the street as fast as he could. His figure was quickly swallowed up in the darkness.  
Luna added some cardboard to the fire and poked it with a stick. She wasn't sure how it happened, but she had an appointment with a super villain the next day. And she was looking forward to it.


	2. Corn

"So Luna, where were you last night?" Cherry asked as she lowered her backpack down into the younger girl's waiting arms. She then climbed down off the wall herself and took it back.

"Oh, I got to talking to someone and lost track of time."

"Really? Who?" Glitter looked up at Luna while pulling her hair up in a ponytail.

Luna shrugged, "Just some guy." She may have trusted her friends, but she didn't think it was a good idea to tell them who exactly she'd been talking to.

"What'd you guys talk about?" Washington asked as the whole group moved out.

"Penny mostly, he knew her too."

Luna caught the glance that passed between Glitter and Hubcap.

"Look, I know you liked her," Glitter said gently, "but she's gone now and nothing's gonna bring her back."

Luna nodded, "I know. But talking helped me and I think it helped him too. In fact," Luna hesitated, "he asked me to meet him tonight to talk some more."

"Does he want something from you?" Hubcap's voice was sharp but Luna knew why, and she didn't blame him. At seventeen Hubcap was the oldest of the group which made him both a leader and a father figure to them all. He worried about Glitter, who was pregnant because of her "job". He worried about Cherry, who was getting desperate enough to consider following in her "older sister's" footsteps. He worried about Luna, who was much too small, much too skinny, and much too curious. He worried about Washington, who never seemed to be able to stay out of trouble for more then five minutes.

Luna had only the utmost respect for Hubcap so she made sure to give his concerns serious thought before answering, "I-I don't think he does. I'm almost positive he just wants to talk."

Hubcap nodded slowly, not exactly convinced, but satisfied with her answer, "Okay but if things even feel wrong to you,"

"I'll run," Luna held up her hands to stop him, "I'm not stupid."

"Okay," Hubcap smiled and gave her a hug, "just be careful."

"I will." Luna looked up at the sky. It was just starting to turn red. "I'd better go. See you later!" she called as she hurried off down the street.

By the time Luna reached the old shelter, the sky was a rapidly darkening shade of gray. She poked around in the charred remains of the trashcan and considered trying to get it started again. Looking around wasn't very promising in the fuel department but she was able to find a few discarded newspaper pages. They would be good for the start, but they wouldn't last long. She shoved them in the trashcan anyways.

The sound of footsteps made her turn, and she saw him approaching. Luna was struck by just how normal he looked. Even knowing who he was, there was some part of her that had trouble believing it.

She smiled a bit uncertainly, "Hello Doctor Horrible."

He winced slightly, "Okay. If we're gonna be meeting when I'm out of uniform, you can't call me Doctor Horrible."

Luna realized her mistake and hoped he wasn't too mad.

He held out his hand, "Call me Billy."

Luna shook it automatically but she was surprised, "Did you just give me your real name?"

He chuckled, "I gave you my _first_ name. And a pretty common one at that. Do you have any idea how many Billy's are in this city alone?"

Luna paused, "Now that you mention it, counting you I know of three now."

"See, and besides," he gave her a look that she couldn't interpret, "you're not planning on coming after me, are you?"

Luna shook her head with a little more force then was necessary, "Oh no no."

His smile softened and he leaned against the fence, "You know you don't have to be afraid of me. Normally I would encourage it, but in this case all we really want from each other is someone to talk about Penny with. That doesn't exactly require fear."

Luna nodded, a shy smile beginning to form on her lips, "Okay."

"So, what do I call you?"

"Oh," Luna realized she hadn't really introduced herself yet, "I'm Luna."

Billy raised one eyebrow, "Luna?"

Luna shrugged, "Well it's my street name. No one, or, no one under eighteen at least, goes by their real name on the streets. It makes it too easy for people to track you down."

"Someone after you?"

Luna looked up sharply but he just seemed curious, "I hope not. They didn't notice me before I left, so why should they if I'm not even there."

He nodded, "Makes sense."

A sound from behind her made Luna turn. Three heavily built guys were walking towards them. Luna knew who they were, "Crap." She turned toward Billy in a slight panic, "Can you do me a favor?"

He raised one eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Please just don't say anything."

He narrowed his eyes but he did turn away and stick his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, hunching his shoulders, and generally becoming insignificant.

Luna glanced around and, to her relief, found a piece of cardboard that she'd missed in her previous search. She picked it up and started tearing it to pieces.

The leader of the guys, a punk named Troy, walked up to her. "Hey girl. Where's Hubcap at?"

Luna moved so the trashcan was between him and her. "Dunno."

"What?" The other two were flanking her, Luna kept her eyes on her hands as she tore off piece after tiny piece.

"I don't know."

"Listen girl," Troy moved the trashcan out of the way. Luna tried to back up but she ended up running into one of the other guys. She didn't dare take her eyes off Troy to look back. "I've got something to say to that kid and I know you run with him. Now tell me where he is."

Luna fought hard to keep her voice steady, "I don't know where he is."

"Not good enough!" He grabbed both her shoulders, swung her around, and slammed her into the fence. "I want to find that kid and you are going to tell me where he is right now!"

Luna was shaking, "I don't know! I haven't seen him in a while."

"Know where we might look for him?"

Luna shook her head, "No, he might be anywhere."

Troy let go and immediately slapped her across the face. Before she could recover, he kneed her hard in the stomach and she doubled over. He let her stay like that for only a few seconds before hauling her back up and pinning her to the fence again.

"Listen girl. You tell Hubcap that Troy wants to talk to him. He knows where to find me. Tell him he'd better come quick or I'll have to use you as the messenger again."

Luna had only recovered enough breath to sob in reply. It seemed to satisfy them though because with a quick grin that made her want to run away and hide they left.

Luna gratefully slid to the ground and hugged her legs to her chest, burying her face in her knees. All she really wanted to do was breath. Soft footsteps approached and Luna heard someone sitting down beside her. She glanced up. _Oh yeah, him._ Luna hid her face again.

"You okay?"

Luna nodded, "Yeah I'm fine."

They were both silent as Luna's breathing slowly returned to normal. She wondered what Doctor Horrible was thinking. Being a super villain he was probably used to this kind of stuff.

"Why didn't you want help?"

Luna sighed and looked up, finally uncurling a little, "Because as is I'm barely a blip on their radar. If I had some random guy protecting me then they'd take notice."

"Ah, makes sense."

Luna was suddenly _incredibly grateful_ he was a super villain because he got it. He understood how things like this worked and he wasn't going to freak out and call the police or a hero and generally make everything worse.

He was silent for a while as he gave Luna a chance to recover. It didn't take too long before she was able to pull herself up and look in the trashcan. The pitiful pile of newspaper and cardboard bits did not look promising, "This is not going to make a good fire."

Billy stood up as well and looked over her shoulder, "You're right." he looked around, "Want to go inside?"

Luna looked up at the abandoned shelter, "You have a key?"

He snorted, "No."

He started toward the door and Luna had to scramble to keep up. When he reached the door he fished something out of his pocket that was definitely not a key and inserted it carefully into the hole. It only took a bit of jiggling before something clicked and the door opened.

"Lock picking," he explained, "a useful skill everyone should learn."

Luna giggled and followed him inside. It was dark but Billy quickly fixed that with a flashlight. Luna was surprised to see almost everything was still there, almost as if someone had just locked the doors and forgotten everything. Half the chairs were upside down on top of the tables and the other half were strewn about the floor willy nilly. The counter still looked the same. Huge stainless steel containers glinted in the light. Luna walked over and peeked in, empty.

"Why is this place closed anyway?" Billy swept the light around the room, "I mean, I understand that the new one's not open but why shut this place down?"

"I don't know." Luna moved to the end of the counter and found several bags full of paper plates, "I think it's a combination of things. Caring Hands got some really bad press after, well, you know. Plus with Penny gone a lot of the energy and drive for the group fizzled out." Luna picked up an open bag ran her finger up the stack of plates. They'd make good kindling, but it was a shame to burn so many perfectly good plates, "I'm not saying she was the only one who cared. No, that would be unfair. But I think she was the only one who had hope that it would get better. Plus her, death made this kind of volunteer work seem unsafe. The people who were still trying after all that, well, I don't think there were enough of them."

Billy went around behind the counter and stood there, staring. Luna joined him. Following his gaze she realized he was looking at a particular table.

"Penny always sat there." Luna leaned into the counter and stared as well, "I think it was the only thing she asked for. If she was eating, that was her spot. It was just sort of understood. Other people could sit at the table of course, but there was always an empty chair for her."

"Why do you think it was so important?" There was a hint of awe in Billy's voice.

Luna smiled, "I'll show you." She slipped around the counter and hurried up to the table, Billy following close behind. When she reached it she pulled the chairs off and pushed them to the side.

"Can I see that?" she asked, holding her hand out for the flashlight. He handed it to her and she crouched down, tilting the table back, leaning it against one of the chairs and shining the light onto the bottom, "There," Luna moved aside so Billy could see more clearly, "do you see it?"  
Billy reached out to trace the roughly carved wings with one finger.

"They were her good luck charm." Luna explained, "Every day she was here she'd touch it and make a wish for the place. I think she carved them in a few other places as well. But I don't know the whole list."

He wasn't really listening. Billy seemed to be in a trance, or at least deep in thought. Luna figured he wanted to be alone so she slipped the flashlight into his hand and got up. She wandered back in the direction of the counter. She was looking around with no real purpose in mind when she noticed the door to the back room was open. Luna had never been back there before. She skirted the counter and approached, pushing the door open. It was dark but her eyes were adjusted anyway. Looking around Luna realized it was some sort of storage area. There were shelves along every wall and even a huge metal framework in the middle of the room that provided additional shelving. Most of the shelves were empty, but Luna was surprised to see boxes still scattered about.

After a quick scan of the room she noticed a huge cardboard box against one wall. Curious, she walked over to it. It was so big she couldn't even see over the edge. Peeking around the corner she realized one side was lower then the others. She walked around and just managed to look over the top. Corn. The bottom of the box was full of ears of corn. Luna loved corn.

First, she tried reaching down to it, but that wasn't going to work. She could barely get her arms over the side. Luna frowned and grabbed a hold of the edge. It was only cardboard, even if it was thick. She pulled. The cardboard showed an annoying lack of weakness. She pulled again, nothing. She yanked again, putting her entire body into it. She tried again, and again. On the sixth time, Luna felt her fingers slip and she fell backwards. She slammed into something hard and thin, and she shrieked as something else fell on her, knocking her to the ground.

"Luna!?"

Luna was still trying to figure out what happened when Billy appeared at her side. She blinked, _Whoa, he's fast!_

"Luna you okay?"

Luna nodded, "Yea." Her shoulder hurt and something had hit her head. Looking around she realized the floor around her was littered with at least two toasters, a coffee maker, and various other unidentified contraptions.

"What happened?" Billy asked as he helped her to her feet.

"Um," Luna felt a little embarrassed, "I was trying to get at the corn," She pointed to the box, "and I guess I slipped and fell backwards."  
Looking behind her Luna saw what was left of a shelf that had been attached to the wall. Apparently everything that was on the shelf had come down on her head. She looked down at the scattered appliances, "I think I broke them."

Billy picked up a toaster and inspected it, "No, this was already broken." He showed her how the cord was frayed where it was attached to the plastic, "If anybody tried to plug this in they'd probably have a fire on their hands." He pointed to the box, "Corn?"

Luna nodded.

He walked over and looked in for himself. Luna joined him. Billy reached down but even he couldn't get to them, "How would you cook them?"

Luna smiled, "Actually corn is pretty good raw."

Billy looked back at the corn, then at the toaster in his hands. Luna jumped in surprise as he smashed the ruined appliance against the cement floor. He then stomped on it and Luna heard something crack. She was horribly confused but a little too scared to ask him what he was doing. He grabbed a hold of the plastic back of the toaster and broke it off. He then rested the corner of the (almost square) piece of plastic on the floor and pushed until it snapped in half. He picked up one of the triangle shaped pieces of plastic and looked around. Spotting what he was looking for he walked over to another shelf and grabbed a rag out of a pile. He wrapped it around one end as he was walking back towards the box.

Only then did he seem to remember Luna was there, "I don't have a knife with me." he explained.

Luna realized what he was doing and grinned. She walked up and stood beside him, grabbing a hold of the edge of the cardboard. He set the edge of the impromptu blade against a small dip in the edge and started sawing vigorously. With Luna pulling and Billy sawing and pushing they managed to cut down the side of the box. When they were almost halfway down, Billy took half a step back and rammed his foot into the box right beside the crack. The cardboard bent and even ripped some more, making an almost entrance.

"Awesome!" Luna grinned and hurried over to the opening. She was able to push the flap of cardboard aside and reach down to grab an ear. She pulled the husk away from the top, hoping it would at least be edible. It was perfect. Luna reached down and snatched up a few more. She turned to Billy who was watching her with a slightly amused expression on his face. "You want some?"

He shrugged, "Why not?"

Luna grabbed some more.

Five minutes later they were sitting at Penny's table husking corn. Billy was sitting in Penny's spot, his hand reaching out to touch the wings every five seconds. Luna didn't think Billy would have dared sit there if she hadn't purposefully put a chair there and then claimed the other one. She wasn't entirely sure about her actions, but she somehow thought Penny would approve.

"You know, I probably would never have set foot in this place if it wasn't for Penny."

"Oh?" Billy perked up in interest.

Luna smiled and nodded, "In fact, when I first met her, all I wanted to do was get away. You see, this was several months ago right after I moved to this city. I was being even more careful then normal so I wasn't trusting _anybody_. Anyway it was raining so I was taking cover in this stairway across the street when suddenly this lady comes out of the building and opens an umbrella above her head. She goes to the edge of the steps and shouts across to me, 'Hey, do you want to come in?! We've got food and you can get out of the rain!' Well I wasn't used to people noticing me so it freaked me out and I just sort of tried to sink into the wall. She stood there for a few seconds before walking down the steps, across the street, and right up to me."

Luna smiled at the memory, "Then I got really freaked out. Usually if I just ignored people they would move on and we'd both go on with our day. But not Penny. She was determined to get me inside that building."

"What did she say to convince you?"

Luna cocked her head to one side, "You know what? I'm not really sure what made me trust her, even a little, at that moment. She asked me when the last time I ate was and when I said it was none of her business she said I was right, but that wouldn't stop her from at least making sure I had a decent meal before the day was over. That girl could be stubborn when she wanted to be."

"Really?"

Luna nodded, "You have to be stubborn to care about something no one else does."

Billy chuckled, "I thought you said there were others who cared too?"

Luna crossed her arms, "Not as much as her." She rolled her eyes at the amused expression on his face, "Anyway, it became obvious that she wasn't going to leave me alone, so I decided I might as well do what she wanted."

Billy leaned back in his chair, "So how did that go?"

"Pretty good. We sat right here, and she got me talking. She was smart enough to steer clear of topics that I was uncomfortable with," Luna paused, "namely me."

Billy smirked and she smiled, "What did you talk about?" he asked.

"Mostly about the city. She found out I was new to it so she started talking about all her favorite places. I realized later that she was trying to give me tips on safe places to spend the night because I'd refused to stay there. She told me some things about herself too."

"Like what?"

"Well, did you know she used to live on a farm? She also played soccer and was on the drama team in high school." Luna paused, unsure, "I'm sorry I guess this isn't that interesting."

"Oh, no no." Billy shook his head, "This is very interesting. What else did you learn?"

Luna tapped her finger against the table a few times, "Um... oh! She used to do stand up. Penny claims she wasn't very good, but she'd perform for charity events and parties. Penny said that as long as you could still laugh you'd make it through anything."

Billy smiled sadly, "It's that simple huh?"

Luna shrugged, "I guess so."

"I'll have to keep that in mind then."

Luna cocked her head, realizing something she wanted to ask, "I'm curious, what happened when you met her for the first time?"

Billy sighed but he smiled, "It was two days after I usually took my laundry in. I hadn't gone before because I was still recovering from a bruised rib, but it simply couldn't be helped anymore. I was out of clean clothes, and it's not really a good idea to send Moist," He caught Luna's confused look, "My henchman, to do something like that."

"Why not?"

"Moist has this power, or condition depending on how you look at it, that makes him excessively sweaty. The clean clothes would be almost unwearable by the time he got home."

"Ah," Luna nodded, "makes sense."

"Anyway I was in a bad mood and I just wanted to get in and get out with minimal bumping of my ribs. I walked in, and all I wanted to do was do my laundry with no human interaction whatsoever. I found a free washer in an out of the way corner and started to push my clothes into it. Suddenly there's this commotion on the other side of the laundry mat and I look up. Some kid had dropped his basket and he was kinda scrambling to get it all picked up. Suddenly, a lady appeared out of nowhere and started helping him. I think my heart stopped."

Luna smiled, "It was Penny, wasn't it?"

Billy nodded, "It was. I know people say there's no such thing as love at first sight but from the moment I laid eyes on her I haven't been able to get her face out of my head. Even now."

Impulsively, Luna reached across the table and gave his hand a squeeze. He smiled sadly and squeezed back.

"I spent the next several minutes just staring. It took me a while to remember I had my own laundry to do. Even then I moved at a snail's pace for the longest time because I kept glancing up at her. It was only after she left that I really made any progress."

"What did you do then?" Luna couldn't help be curious about how a super villain reacted to falling for someone.

"I finished my laundry as fast as possible and hurried home to prepare. I was back that night to set up the cameras."

"Cameras?"

Billy nodded, "I watched the laundry mat for the next week to find out when she came in. Wednesdays and Saturdays."

Luna couldn't help smiling. True, it was a little creepy how stalkerish he had been, but it was also kind of sweet in its own way.

Billy glanced at his watch, "Aw man!"

"What?"

"I have to get back to the lab. I have lots to do and not much time to do it." Billy stood up and Luna followed suet. She quickly picked up her reserve pile of corn from the floor and followed the man as he walked toward the door. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the lockpicking device from earlier.

"Um," Luna hesitated.

Billy looked at her, "What?"

"Do you think you could leave the door unlocked? There's a lot of stuff here and I'd like to be able to come back for it."

Billy frowned down at the device in his hands, "I don't know. I'd rather not draw attention to this place, and an unlocked door would definitely do that. Plus if the door's unlocked anybody could get in. It'd probably be cleaned out within a week."

Luna was defeated, "Oh, okay."

Billy looked at her with a strange expression on his face, "Tell you what. Why don't we do this." He walked over to a window in the darkest corner of the room. He forced the lock open and pushed until it snapped open with a crack. Billy slid the window up and down a few times to loosen it up before shutting it firmly.

"There," Billy clapped his hands together a few times to get rid of the dust and paint flakes, "now you have a way in that other people hopefully won't stumble across."

Luna was surprised at the (unnecessary) kindness of the gesture. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but the somewhat shy and almost sweet man wasn't it.

They exited the building and Billy locked the door behind them. They walked down the front steps and were about to go their separate ways when Billy hesitated, "So, see you around?"

Luna nodded, "Yeah, see you."

The tall blond stuck his hands in his pockets and walked purposefully away. A police car cruised down the street and passed him. They didn't even slow down. Luna shook her head and smiled at the irony of it all. The police were out looking for trouble and they drove right past the city's most infamous criminal.

She hurried away before the police could decide she looked suspicious. Her thoughts quickly turned from Penny and Doctor Horrible to something else entirely. Namely she was thinking about how she was going to demand an explanation from Hubcap as to why a gang banger like Troy wanted to see him!


	3. Bank Job

Luna hurried down the sidewalk, her nervousness almost making her break into a run. They were in trouble. They were in serious trouble. Her mind wandered back to what Hubcap had told them last night.

She'd hurried strait back to the old abandoned cannery right after leaving the old shelter. She must have looked upset because everyone fell silent when she arrived.

"Hubcap, why does Troy want to see you?"

Hubcap had gone rigid, and Luna knew it was bad. Glitter also looked nervous and that worried Luna. She knew Hubcap and Glitter cared about each other a lot but she'd never thought they'd keep a secret from the others that was potentially dangerous.

"Well?" Luna was starting to get mad.

Hubcap sighed, "I borrowed some money from him."

"Shit." Washington muttered as Cherry shook her head. Luna was shocked, Hubcap had always taught them never to borrow money. He'd always said if you can't pay it back then they own you.

"It's my fault." Glitter whispered, her hand resting protectively against her belly. It was just starting to show. "He borrowed the money so he could get me some stuff for the baby."

"What sort of stuff?" Cherry asked.

"Some vitamins..."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Washington pointed out.

"...and a doctor visit."

"Shiiit." Washington repeated and Luna groaned. Glitter sat down on an empty crate and buried her face in her hands. They were all silent for a few seconds.

"How much?" Cherry's soft voice seemed to cut through the silence like a thunderclap.

"One hundred fifty dollars." Glitter's voice was muffled by her hands.

Everyone fell silent once again. It was as if something dark and heavy had settled down on the room. Each teenager was wondering how they would survive this.

Hubcap shook himself and looked at Luna and she was relieved to see the strong determined Hubcap behind his eyes again, "Wait a minute," He walked toward Luna, "Troy talked to you are you okay?"

Luna shrugged, "Yea I'm fine."

"Did he hurt you?"

Luna shrugged again, "He just ruffed me up a little bit, I'll be okay."

Hubcap nodded but he didn't look happy. He turned to the rest of the room, "Alright money, what has everyone got?"

There was a general checking of pockets as each teen prayed they somehow had more money then they thought they had.

"I've got three dollars," Cherry laid the the green pieces of paper on the plywood on cement blocks setup they used for a table, "and a dollar thirty-eight in change." The coins jingled as they fell in a pile.

"Dollar forty-six." Washington mumbled as he dropped a crumpled up bill and some change into their meager collection.

Glitter sighed, "I've got twelve dollars left." She tossed a role of bills in.

Luna's fingers brushed against paper and she pulled it out, "Five bucks." she announced as she let the bill fall on top.

"Okay," Hubcap muttered as he pulled a small box out of his backpack, "if we add that to the fifteen dollars I managed to save up," he closed his eyes and did some quick calculations, "we have a quarter of what we need."

The silence returned.

"But," Washington's voice sounded very small, "this is our food money."

"I might be able to help with that." Luna shook herself out of the growing panic welling up inside her, "Remember the old shelter? Well I got in and there's still some food."

"That where the corn came from?" Cherry pointed to the pile Luna had unceremoniously dropped in the corner.

Luna nodded.

The sound of a horn broke Luna out of her thoughts and she quickly stepped back onto the curb to let the car speed by. She took a deep, deliberate breath and tried to calm down. Looking down she reassured herself by making sure the envelope was still in her hands. It was. She held it to her chest. Luna had no idea what was in it and it probably wasn't all that important but at that moment nothing mattered more to her.

The road cleared and Luna stepped out again to cross. Reaching the other side she turned left and continued down the sidewalk. It was a nice day and a lot of people were out walking. Luna felt the usual twinge of anxiety she did whenever she was around a lot of people. She tried to keep her head down and weave quickly through the crowd but she still felt like everyone was staring at her even though she knew they weren't.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief when she finally saw her destination. The bank wasn't all that big but it was still intimidating to her. Still it was where she wanted to go. She quickly ran up the steps and slipped inside.

Luna stopped just inside the door to get her bearings. The soft, almost muffled atmosphere was a sharp contrast to the busyness of the street. There were maybe a half dozen customers walking around and several employees smiling at them, until they saw Luna that is. She looked down at the name that was neatly scrawled on the back of the envelope. Casey She looked up, Luna wasn't sure which one was Casey but she figured she could ask.

She hadn't taken more then two steps when all hell broke loose. A loud noise behind her made her instinctively rush forward and behind the cover of an island before she was even sure what was going on. Several men dressed in black burst through the door carrying some nasty looking weapons. One of them rushed into the middle of the room and fired a few shots into the air.

"Everybody down!"

Several people screamed and they all dove for the floor. Luna crouched lower, hoping to remain unnoticed. A flash of red caught her eye and she looked back towards the door.

"Oh crap." It was Doctor Horrible. Luna didn't know whether to be relieved or more worried.

He strode into the room. Luna couldn't help comparing this walk to Billy's. It was totally different.

"Well well well." Doctor Horrible surveyed the room with a small smile on his face, "What do we have here?" No one answered. "It seems your pathetic excuse for a day gets a little excitement." He smiled, and Luna couldn't help being really creeped out. "Congratulations."

He lifted his arm and Luna realized there was a ray gun attached to his wrist, "Boys, make a withdrawal."

The men surged forward, some to the tellers and some to the back. Luna was so busy watching Doctor Horrible that she didn't realize someone had seen her.

"Hey!"

Luna jerked her gaze upward to see a huge man looming over her. She shrank against the island.

"What are you doing hiding back here? I told everyone to get down!" He grabbed her arm and practically threw her out into a more open spot on the floor. The envelope slipped from her hand and she scrambled to grab it. Her fingertips just touched the edge of it when a boot landed on her wrist. Luna bit back a whimper.

"What's this?" The man bent down to pick up the envelope.

Luna's heart rate doubled, "It's nothing! It's not important!"

"Shut up." he said absently as he inspected the envelope.

"Give it back." In desperation Luna reached up with her free hand.

Quicker then Luna had time to process, he had grabbed her arm and was twisting it around in a direction it wasn't meant to go. This time Luna couldn't help screaming.

"Rock!"

Part of her recognized Doctor Horrible's voice. The man stopped twisting but didn't let go.

"Boss?"

The villain's voice was low and dangerous, "Did I tell you to watch the hostages?"

"Well, no but..."

"Exactly. In fact, I seem to remember quite clearly telling you to go get the money."

The man let go, "But she was hiding something boss." He handed the envelope over. Doctor Horrible slipped it in his lab coat.

"Go. Get. The money.

The man left and Luna fought the urge to breath a sigh of relief. She glanced up. Luna couldn't read Doctor Horrible's expression behind the goggles but she suddenly felt a lot safer.

"Stay down." he muttered softly and he laid his boot gently but firmly against her back and pushed. Luna was happy to comply until a sharp pain in her arm made her gasp. The pressure lessened immediately and Luna quickly shifted her arm into a position that didn't hurt. After settling back down Luna heard a faint click. She risked a glance up and saw Doctor Horrible was now pointing his arm ray gun thing directly at her head. He was also frowning, not the "I'm mad at you" type of frown but more of the "this is troubling" type of frown. Luna settled back down.

She didn't get to see much of what happened for the next several minutes from her vantage point. In fact, she was so secure in the fact that he wasn't going to shoot her that she relaxed a bit too much and became tired. Luna hadn't gotten a very good night's sleep and it was starting to catch up with her.

She didn't have time to actually doze off though before the henchmen started returning. There was a slight commotion up at the front that Luna was distracted by until she realized someone had approached Doctor Horrible.

"We got most of what we came for Doc." His voice was much quieter then the others, Luna wondered if he'd just arrived or if she simply hadn't noticed him.

"Alright let's get going, we've been here too long already."

"You got it."

The quieter one must have signaled the others because there was a general movement toward the door. Luna heard a slight shuffle and a bag fell to the ground followed by a muffled curse.

"I got it." Doctor Horrible bent to pick the bag up. While doing so one hand rested briefly on Luna's shoulder and he squeezed reassuringly. Luna nodded slightly.

Just like that they were gone. Luna propped herself up (quickly shifting all of her weight onto her good arm) and saw them all get into a large van parked outside. Within seconds they had disappeared.

"Oh you poor girl!"

"What?" Luna turned around in surprise to see a heavier looking woman barreling down on her. She scrambled to her feet.

"It must have been so frightening for you!" The woman enveloped her in a hug. Luna fought the urge to push her away.

She was saved from trying to think of a response by the sound of sirens.

After that it was a whirlwind of activity as the place was invaded by police. Then there were interviews and questions and dusting for fingerprints and taking pictures and checking security cameras and general insanity. It wouldn't have been so bad if the woman hadn't insisted on staying with her through it all and holding her hand and exclaiming how scared she must have been and how horrible they were to put a child through such an ordeal. The only thing that kept her sane was internally smirking every time she heard the word horrible.

It was at least an hour before she was finally able to get out of there. By that time the front steps were crawling with reporters. Luna tried to slip away quietly without too many of them noticing.

"Little girl! Wait!"

"I'm fifteen." Luna couldn't help muttering under her breath before she turned around. The woman was headed straight towards her.

"Do you have a ride home? Did you call your parents?"

The woman reached her and threw one arm over her shoulders, drawing her a step back towards the reporters. A few cameras flashed.

The woman put her free hand against Luna's opposite cheek, effectively pinning the teenager in place, "I can't bear to think about you all alone after what's happened."

Luna pushed herself away before she could start panicking, "I'm fine. I called my parents. I'm gonna walk home. It's not far. Bye."

Luna practically jogged down the steps and just short of ran down the street until she could duck down an alley. She then proceeded to get as far away from that place as possible. For the next half hour she wandered somewhat aimlessly. She knew she should probably get back to the business of getting money but her heart wasn't in it.

She ended up leaning against a low brick and stone wall that was running alongside an alley and looking across the street at a boy playing in a playground. She wasn't really thinking about anything in particular, just letting the day's events settle in her mind.

"How you doing?"

Luna jumped a full six inches into the air and whirled around to see Billy, plain ordinary Billy just standing there with a duffel bag in his hand. He smiled briefly and then his face returned to the frown from earlier.

"You okay? Not traumatized I hope."

Luna took a deep, steadying breath and smiled, if not weakly, "I'm fine."

Billy's gaze flickered to Luna's arm, "Does that still bother you?"

Luna realized she was cradling her right arm protectively with her left. It did still hurt, sort of. If she kept it still there was only a slight ache but if it bumped against anything the pain would flare up sharply. "It's okay."

"Can I take a look?"

Luna took an unconscious step back and she was already shaking her head. She didn't know why, it wasn't as if he'd done anything to hurt her, but she didn't want him touching her at the moment.

"Please," Billy's voice became much softer, "I have some experience in things like this."

Luna cocked her head, curious despite herself.

Billy smirked, "I'm the guy that used to fight Captain Hammer on a weekly basis."

Luna smiled softly, "Okay."

Billy set his duffel bag down and took her arm carefully in his hands. He gently eased her sleeve up to revel the skin underneath. Luna couldn't help staring, she hadn't expected the bruises to be that bad. Billy gently prodded the edges with his fingertips. Luna wasn't sure what he was feeling for but he seemed to know what he was doing and it barely hurt at all. Suddenly something he did sent a sharp pain through her arm. She gasped and jerked but didn't pull away.

"Hmmmmm..." Billy held her arm lightly as he stared at it, his face furrowed in concentration like he was trying to puzzle something out.  
He let go and turned to his bag. Luna looked on curiously as he unzipped the top and rummaged around for a few seconds. He pulled out a contraption that Luna couldn't even guess the use of. It was box like, maybe eight inches by ten inches. Most of the top was taken up by a screen and several buttons took any space that was left. Billy unfolded four six inch legs from each corner.

"What is it?" Luna was beyond curious now.

"Portable x-ray machine." Billy started fiddling with some of the buttons.

"What?"

"It's a portable x-ray machine." The screen suddenly came to life.

"Is it safe?"

Billy looked up at her and smiled, "Perfectly. I use it on myself all the time."

Luna nodded, "Oh, okay."

Billy set the machine down on top of the wall and then reached back into his bag. He pulled out a rolled up mat like thing. He set that on the top of the wall and unrolled it carefully. Then he turned to Luna and held his hand out. Luna approached only somewhat cautiously and gave him her arm back. He positioned it carefully on the mat and then lifted his machine over her arm and positioned it with almost as much care.

"Hold still now." he warned.

Luna didn't have time to express more concerns about safety before he pushed the biggest button. There was a whirring sound and a light turned on. Then it was over.

"You can take your arm out now." Billy commented as he pressed a few of the smaller buttons. Luna gingerly pulled her arm back and joined Billy at the screen. He pressed a few buttons and the x-ray appeared.

Luna was fascinated, "So that's what my bones look like?"

Billy nodded, "Yep." then he reached out and pointed to the screen, "There."

Luna looked and saw a thin line going through one of the bones, "What's that?"

"It's a hairline fracture." Billy was stroking his chin and frowning.

Luna looked down at the bruised skin, "My arm's broken?"

Billy shook himself, "Technically yes but it isn't that bad. Your arm doesn't have to be set or anything. If it doesn't get jostled it should heal fine on its own."

Luna nodded, "Well that's good. How do I make sure it's not jostled?"

"I can take care of that." Billy was already rummaging in his duffel bag. He pulled out a long thin roll of cloth and set it down on the wall. He then returned to the bag and produced several containers of mystery substance.

"Is that for a cast or something?" Luna was getting a little overwhelmed with how fast things were going.

"Sort of." Billy was looking over his arrangement of things, he realized he'd forgotten something and returned to the duffel bag, "It's not like a cast you'd get at the doctor's. This is something I developed myself. It's lighter and thinner then a regular cast and allows for more flexibility. Something I'm sure you're looking for."

Luna smiled and nodded.

"It's not quite as sturdy as a regular cast but like I said you're break isn't that bad. This should be plenty good enough." Billy held out his hand again and this time Luna didn't hesitate to give him her arm. He carefully wrapped it with the soft cloth, leaving room so she could bend her elbow and her wrist. After he'd finished and secured the end with tape he turned to the containers and started opening them. He set one containing a white powder in front of him and started mixing stuff into it. Luna wasn't sure what was going into the concoction except for one thing that looked suspiciously like water. He took a spoon from a long rectangular box and started stirring vigorously.

"Any particular color you want?" Billy nodded toward an unused box with vials of different colors in it.

Luna was about to say she didn't need any color when the purple caught her eye. It was almost the exact shade of her sweater. She carefully lifted it out and handed it over.

Billy took it and glanced at her top, "Hoping for some camouflage?"

Luna shrugged, "I figure the less people notice the better."

Billy nodded, "Probably smart." He added the coloring and stirred it in. When he was satisfied he wiped the spoon clean and put it back. He rummaged around in the spoon box for a few seconds before producing a paintbrush.

Luna raised an eyebrow, "A paintbrush?"

Billy rolled his eyes and held out his hand. Luna giggled and put her arm into his care once more. He held it over the main container and started brushing the now purple substance over the cloth. They were silent for several seconds as he worked.

Luna looked up at his face, "You mad or something?"

Billy's brow was furrowed in anger, he sighed, "I gave Rock a severe talking to but I just might blacklist him too."

"Rock's the one who,"

"The one who broke your arm yes."

Luna wasn't sure how to feel, "Why would you do that?"

Billy looked at her in surprise, "Why not?"

"Well, I'm not that important."

"You're pretty high on my list." Billy rolled her arm over so he could get the other side.

"You need to get out more."

"I do." Billy's face was devoid of humor, "Luna of all the new people I've met over the past couple weeks I'm pretty sure you're the only one I trust."

Luna didn't know what to do with that information so she stayed quiet.

Billy finished and held her hand out so her arm could air dry. It didn't take more then a minute or two. Billy tapped the purple shell to make sure it was dry. "That should do it."

Luna smiled and started rolling her sleeve down over it. Once it was covered she was pleased to discover it was barely noticeable.

"Oh, I guess I'll take this back now." Billy reached up and pulled something out from beneath Luna's collar.

Luna blinked, surprised to see a small device in his hand, "You bugged me?"

Billy nodded, sticking the tiny bug in his pocket.  
Luna wasn't sure how she felt about that, "Why?"

"I was worried." Billy started packing his things back into his duffel bag, "I could tell your arm was hurting you at the bank and I wanted to be sure I could find you so I could take a look at it."

Luna didn't know if she was angry at him or not. On one hand she didn't like the breech of privacy and the thought of somebody being able to find her whenever they wanted to didn't settle well with her. On the other hand he'd done it in order to help her and it wasn't like he could ask her permission with all those people watching. Most importantly there was nothing she could do about it now so she decided to just drop it.

"Oh I almost forgot." Billy pulled an envelope from the inside of his hoodie, "This is yours."

"Oh thank you!" Relief flooded through Luna as she grabbed the envelope and held it to her chest.

Billy looked amused, and a little curious, "What's in that anyway?"

Luna shrugged, "I have no idea. This old lady said she'd give me five dollars to deliver this to her son at the bank."

"And I interrupted huh?"

Luna smiled uncertainly, "Kinda."

"Sorry about that."

Luna nodded her consent.

"So you took on Rock for five bucks."

Luna blushed, "I guess. But it's a bit more then that. I could tell she was uneasy about trusting a street kid, what with our shining reputation."  
Billy snorted and Luna smiled.

"Anyway she hinted that if I pull through on this she would pay me to do other stuff for her. Plus she has some pull with the other people in her neighborhood so if she recommends me I could get a lot of business." Luna suddenly found the ground fascinating, "If this doesn't work out I only know of one other way to get money fast."

Billy didn't ask. Luna didn't offer an explanation.

"Does this have anything to do with what happened with those guys last night?"

Luna rubbed her thumb in small circles on the envelope, "Hubcap borrowed some money from them. We've got to pay it back, now."

"Hey, if you need money I've got some."

Luna was already shaking her head, "Thanks but I don't want to risk it."

Billy cocked his head, "What do you mean?"

"A couple months ago this other street kid helped a villain out and she repaid him by giving him some money and a few other valuables. Somehow someone in the police found out and they tracked him down and took everything from him. Even the things that she hadn't given him. After that they kept harassing him and they were extremely suspicious of everything he did. He split within a week or so. He's probably in some other city now."

Billy shook his head. Something dark was behind his eyes.

Luna shrugged, "I appreciate the offer, but we can't afford to start from scratch."

"I understand," Billy zipped the now full duffel bag shut, "let me know how things go."

Luna nodded.

They had come to the part of the conversation with the awkward silence. Luna didn't know what to say next and Billy wasn't offering anything. They just sort of stared at each other for several seconds.

"Um," Luna shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "I'd better be going." She started away.

"Hey um," Billy hesitated.

Luna turned.

"I don't have work tomorrow. Maybe we could have a normal conversation during daylight hours for a change. That is if you're not busy delivering messages for old ladies."

Luna considered it. She needed to focus on making money but if the jobs dried up it would be nice to have something else to do, "I'll have to see what happens but I can try to come between three and four."

Billy nodded, "Works for me." He told her where he wanted to meet.

Luna smiled, "Okay." She was starting to realize just how much she enjoyed the super villain's company and it was surprising, but kinda nice too.

Billy slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and walked away.

Luna continued on her own way, already preoccupied with trying to figure out how to explain to the old lady what had happened to her message without sounding like a complete and total lunatic!


End file.
